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Thank you Galina. I shall continue to marvel! I love looking at Russ Crow's photos. I need to go back and read about his own beans.

JanG, it's very reassuring! I was worried I'd been reckless with my planting/seed saving...
I love growing the crosses. I keep them in special mixes (no way I can keep track of who's who!)

Hello all.
I hold the position of treasurer on our allotment society committee.
Recently our bank has introduced a monthly charge. As we are a small society I would rather not to have to pay this.
Is there a bank that doesn't charge fees?
Thanks in anticipation.

Will he ever stop?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0GSF7V7B2

Thanks for your comprehensive coverage of the context for crossing, Galina, and for raising the question, Juliev.

I occasionally get crosses and equally occasionally have reports from people I've given seeds to that a cross has occurred. I always like to know if crosses have occurred from my seed. If the result is interesting I do sometimes grow them out but find that it becomes unmanageable to follow too many crosses for the time and space needed.

I've never had a cross from your seed, Juliev, and of course, some of your crossed seed might have crossed before you received it. My feeling is that you don't need to do anything different. As Galina says, isolation is so difficult that it's better to simply enjoy the occasional surprise - and simply eat it if you don't want to grow it on!

In French beans (and also tomatoes) the natural crossing rate is around the 5% mark, higher when we have been able to attract a lot of hungry insects, especially earth wasps.  Much lower than that in peas, but also possible.  Some beans themselves, due to differences in flower structure have a higher crossing rate.  Generally not enough of a problem to isolate, but definitely not unknown.  Broad beans and runner beans cross at far higher rates (and peppers too) and need to be isolated.   The rarest cross is betweeen runnerbeans and French beans, but even that is not unknown.  When you suddenly get French beans with red flowers, this is what has happened.

You cannot spot a cross in the year it happened.  Because seed coat is maternal material,  the seed looks just like the mother variety, but dad's pollen has been transferred all the same, to create a different crossed variety inside that seed coat.  By the time you notice a cross, seed may well have been shared already in good faith.  You only really notice that there must have a been a cross, when you grow that seed and get a different plant from what you expect.   

Very occasionally, I stick an unopened flower truss inside a wedding favour bag.  Which ensures 100% purity, but the resulting bean pods can distort a bit or get too hot.  With runnerbeans there is no other choice, because nobody in an amateur setting has the isolation distances available.  HSL recommends 1.5m distance from any other French beans for seed guardian varieties, but this is more to avoid seed mixing, I guess, it certainly doesn't stop insects.  Cori of Bohnenatlas recommends lots of insect attracting flowers, to feed the bees and wasps on more attractive pollen, rather than the beans being affected. 

I find that the Appalachian beans tend to have a slightly higher crossing rate and yes following up crosses is great fun.  If you follow bean afficionado Russ Crow (a bean collectors window), he cherishes every new and promising cross.  This is how new varieties happen, unless of course they are deliberately crossed. 

Noted about you wanting seeds that have accidentally crossed. 

So yes, it does happen in your garden and in my garden and in all of our gardens, but we either live with it or marvel at it, whichever applies. 

Crossing in French Beans

Morning everyone,

I'm finally sorting the rest of my bean seeds and I see a lot of new types. Personally, it doesn't bother me at all as I'm interested in breeding and growing as mixed populations but it raises some questions/concerns:

Do the crosses happen in my garden? If so, I should be more careful and isolate better the varieties I want to share with the seed circle (have you noticed crosses in the seeds I've shared?)

Have you noticed a lot of crosses in your own gardens? Do you do anything about it apart from increase isolation and roguing?

Just thought I'd ask... do you get rid of the off types or do you grow them on to see what happens?
(If you usually get rid of them, I'd be delighted to rehome them as part of my mixes  ) 

Latest book out this week
Latest book now out www.amazon.co.uk/Amazing-Adventure-Amanderella-Gottsnobbler/dp/B0GQ48VN93/

The snails are definitely photogenic! I can see why they are popular 

Yes, they've come on well. Planted out this afternoon and I was pleased with the way the snail unfurled and with the root development. Very easy to plant out and no entangled tendrils.